Presently-known heat exchangers are constituted by a stack of heat exchange modules, each module 910 comprising a flow cell 912 for a fluid F1 that is to be cooled, in particular a liquid, and a flow cell 914 for a cooling fluid F2, e.g. a gas and in particular air, the two cells being thermally coupled together. One such heat exchange module is shown in FIG. 1.
In order to increase its heat exchange area so as to increase the efficiency of heat exchange with the cooling fluid, the flow cell for the fluid that is to be cooled comprises a plate 916 having a plurality of fins 918 of substantially rectangular profile arranged in parallel strips that are side-by-side to one another in a direction perpendicular to the direction of said strips.
Such a finned plate is far from providing satisfactory efficiency. In the context of present environmental concerns, it is necessary, amongst other things, to improve the energy efficiency of equipment, and in particular of heat exchangers, while not increasing their cost, nor the quantity of materials used for fabricating them.